Manual cognates: Iconic gestures facilitate the acquisition of a sign language as second language

Join Dr Gerardo Ortega - Associate Professor within the University of Birmingham's Department of English Language and Linguistics - for his online seminar entitled 'Manual cognates: Iconic gestures facilitate the acquisition of a sign language as second language'from 12pm, Friday 22 March 2024.

"When learning a second spoken language, cognates, words overlapping in form and meaning with one’s native language, help breaking into the language one wishes to acquire. But what happens when the to-be-acquired second language is a sign language? We tested whether hearing nonsigners rely on their gestural repertoire at first exposure to a sign language. Participants saw iconic signs with high and low overlap with the form of iconic gestures while electrophysiological brain activity was recorded.

"Upon first exposure, signs with low overlap with gestures elicited enhanced positive amplitude in the P3a component compared to signs with high overlap. This effect disappeared after a training session. We conclude that nonsigners generate expectations about the form of iconic signs never seen before based on their implicit knowledge of gestures, even without having to produce them. Learners thus draw from any available semiotic resources when acquiring a second language, and not only from their linguistic experience."

This is a hybrid seminar, that will be streaming via Zoom: attendees can view online, or attend in-person collectively at 52 Prichatts Road, Room 412 (G9 on the campus map).

This talk is part of the ongoing Language and Cognition at Birmingham (LACAB) Psycholinguistics Seminar Series. Discover more information about LACAB and its upcoming events here.